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A high school diploma just isn't enough

Savannah Technical College instructor Jase Redick watches Jermaine Hardy use a drill while working on a project during the aircraft structural assembly class.

Richard Burkhart

Charles Manuel adds rivets to his project while working in the lab at SavannahTech.

Richard Burkhart

Tawanda Bing looks checks the rivets on her project.

Richard Burkhart

A group of Savannah Technical College students work on a class project during aircraft structural assembly class.

Job applicants who expect to get a paying position had better bring something more than a high school diploma to the interview.

"Industry is tired of hiring people straight off the street," said Thomas Crandell, director of corporate services at Ferris State University in Michigan, which runs the National Council for Workforce Education. "It used to be if you graduated high school and could carry a lunch box you could get hired in manufacturing. But kids aren't learning applied knowledge in high school. What they learn they don't know how to apply, and that makes it difficult for them to pick up a good job."

But Savannah Technical College has developed customized training programs that get high school graduates into good jobs and produce qualified workers for local industry.

Demand for skilled workers

Workers just out of high school used to be able work their way up in manufacturing and service jobs. But those industries have become more complex and require skilled workers with certification.

In fact, six out of every 10 jobs in America are available only to workers who gained advanced skills and training in college or technical schools, according to the American Council on Education's 2004 School to College Transition report.

That shift has led the nation's educators, politicians and business leaders to call for all high school graduates to complete at least two years of college-level academics.

But answering that call isn't so easy in states such as Georgia, which has the second-highest dropout rate in the country and the third-lowest number of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college.

A large number of young Georgians don't even have high school diplomas.

A recent study by the conservative-leaning think tank, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, reports that 44 percent of the Georgia students leave school without graduating.

And many of those who graduate are going to work and not college.

Only 28 percent of the state's 18- to 24-year-olds enroll in college.

Work force development

Savannah Technical College's Economic Development Division offers services that help build the skills of the unskilled workers in Chatham, Effingham, Bryan and Liberty counties. They create customized training courses for businesses, designed to upgrade the skills of current employees. When students complete the customized programs they are guaranteed a job interview.

Kerry Scott, president of International Longshoreman Association Maintenance and Repair Local 2046 said Tech does assessments to determine if their workers have welding skills that would qualify them for jobs repairing containers and chassis. They are also working to create a welding training program.

"We're working with them now to set up an apprenticeship program to train people in welding," Scott said. "There's really no training for that around here."

If companies are looking to attract a large number of applicants for a highly specialized job, Tech will also set up diploma and certification programs designed to generate graduates who are trained to suit.

Orafol USA Inc., a self-adhesive PVC film manufacturer opening its first U.S. headquarters and manufacturing site in Bryan County this summer, has an agreement to train prospective employees for 400 jobs. Training will include everything from an overview of the manufacturing process to working with decimals and digital calipers.

Tech also created certification programs designed specifically for Gulfstream, which is planning a $300 million expansion. Training in aircraft structural assembly, warehousing and distribution, and customer service is open to those with high school diplomas and GED certificates.

"We expect the partnership with Savannah Tech will result in a larger, more qualified local candidate pool, which is a benefit to both Gulfstream and the community," said Gulfstream spokesperson Julie McCoy.

Tech is also developing an airframe and powerplant certification school to train and license future maintenance technicians.

Students benefit just as much as the companies, said Ken Boyd, vice president for economic development at Savannah Tech.

"If a person goes out there and supplements their high school education with skills that businesses are hunting for, that company will guarantee them an interview," Boyd said. "Companies know the students coming out of our programs are exactly what they want to hire."

Many people who want higher paying jobs, but don't have the education and skills to get them, think college is beyond their reach. But by offering on-site training programs many unskilled people are getting technical college training.

A Savannah Tech instructor comes on site to assist with the masonry, basic carpentry, and concrete forming training courses offered at St. Paul CME Technical Training Center downtown.

"Even if they don't have a high school diploma they can start this program and work on their GED as they go," said Donnie Gillis, instructor and director of the St. Paul training center.

The program has a 65 percent completion rate and all program completers are certified as apprentices in their specific trade.

"When they finish, they may get 15 or 16 contractors making them job offers," Gillis said.